- DR Congo Risk World Cup Ban Over Ebola Isolation Rules
- United States warns team against violating mandatory pre tournament health protocols
- Friendly matches remain scheduled despite ongoing concerns over isolation compliance
The Democratic Republic of the Congo could face exclusion from the upcoming World Cup if the national team fails to comply with strict isolation requirements ahead of travelling to the United States.
The African side are scheduled to arrive in Houston, Texas, on June 11 ahead of their opening match against Portugal on June 17.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that authorities have directed the squad to observe a 21 day isolation period before entering the United States due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in DR Congo. The team is expected to remain inside controlled training bubbles throughout preparations in Belgium.
Executive Director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, warned that failure to maintain the isolation protocol could prevent the team from participating in the tournament.
According to Giuliani, the United States has already held discussions with FIFA, DR Congo officials, and the national team regarding strict adherence to the training bubble arrangements in Belgium.
“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th,” Giuliani told ESPN.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Congo government as well, that they need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States.
“We cannot be any clearer.”
He stressed the seriousness of the health measures surrounding the tournament, saying the United States would not compromise on border safety protocols.
“We want to make sure that there is nothing that’s going to come in or near our borders here on this,” he added.
Giuliani further warned that any breach of the isolation arrangement or emergence of symptoms among individuals connected to the squad could jeopardise the team’s participation at the World Cup.
Despite the warning, a spokesperson for the DR Congo national team confirmed that planned friendly matches against Denmark and Chile would still go ahead as scheduled.
The team are expected to face Denmark in Liège on June 3 before travelling to Cádiz for a match against Chile six days later.
However, the arrangement appears to conflict with the strict isolation directive requiring the squad to remain within secured bubbles in Belgium and Spain during the same period.
A team official quoted by Reuters said, “We have kept our training programme. No player in the squad has come from DR Congo. The friendly matches are still scheduled. The only modification to the programme has been the cancellation of the Kinshasa leg.”
The team had initially planned a celebratory visit to Kinshasa ahead of what would be their first World Cup appearance in 52 years, but the trip was cancelled earlier this week.
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